Playing around with absolutely no reasoable result, I ended up here to consult you dear metalheads to find out to where I should turn my head.

To begin with, I'm an admirer of the style in Blind Guardian - The Bard's Song : In The Forest and Demons & Wizards' Fiddler On The Green.

Previous night, I've decided to write some fantasy-oriented short story and felt the need to listen to some songs to get me in the mood for it. Yet, my ears got eroded because of looping the two songs above over and over (I was able to finish my story fortunately).

I asked around to people about what I should listen to, strictly emphasizing the style of those two songs, however all I got was brain-draining power metal bands/albums no matter what their name or titles could imply, (such as Witchking, Rivendell etc.). I know what Stratovarius, Manowar is and I like 'em. No that's not what I want. I don't want to hear power metal ballads featuring fantasy elements. I want to hear songs that actually would make you feel as if you are in a tavern. That's why I strongly emphasized that I wanted to hear bands/songs like the two examples above.

So would you be of any help please ?

Thanks in advance.

(Although I have a feeling that this has been asked a million times..ahem..)

It's not really power metal, but Bal-Sagoth have a certain soundtracky feel to them that might please ya.

EDIT: Also, you might like to try out Summoning. Again, it's not power metal, it's combination of black, folk, symphonic and ambient with an epic flair and a fantasy/medieval atmosphere. But if you want some background music to inspire you in your fantasy pursuits, Summoning is some of the best.

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gomorro wrote:

Fortunately the seminar started and when it finished, I runed away like if Usain Bolt were about to rape me.

Well, I've yet to hear a bad album by either of them, so really you could pick one of their releases at random.

However, let's go with the ones that have got the best review scores. That would be Let Mortal Heroes Sing Your Fame by Summoning and Starfire Burning upon the Ice-Veiled Throne of Ultima Thule by Bal-Sagoth. And yes, most of Bal-Sagoth's titles are just as ridiculously long.

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gomorro wrote:

Fortunately the seminar started and when it finished, I runed away like if Usain Bolt were about to rape me.

Battlelore have a couple songs off Sword's Song, like Buccaneer's Inn (very drunken-tavernish feeling), and even on their newer album The Last Alliance there are a a couple tracks that could fit the bill.

You could try out some various viking metal bands. I can HIGHLY recommend Bathory, the band which started it all, and Ereb Altor - they are great, and I finally found a link to d/l their album. PM me if interested.

Also, if you are into some middle-eastern/AEgyptian melodies and themes, try out bands like Lykathea Aflame, Melechesh, Nile and Karl Sanders own person project which uses his own name - it's a awesome mix of atmospheric tribal folk music and ambiance. Really good album.

Fantasy metal, eh?
Well if you want Fantasy Metal, I would suggest listening to Ensiferum and Kivimetsän Druidi for sure. Joni Koskinen of KmD is actually writing a Fantasy novel which all of their songs are based off of. Definitely give these two a look.

Yes, Bal-Sagoth is the best if you're going for battle-ish/fantastic war feel. "Starfire Burning Upon the Ice-Veiled Throne of Ultima Thule" "The Lost Cities of Antarctica," "Of Carnage and A Gathering of Wolves" and "A Tale from the Deep Woods" are great songs to start with.

See, Beast in Black wasn't even kidding about the song titles!

_________________Hear the call Atlanteans,
Proud we stand forever!
Mightiest of warriors,
we sail across the sea!

I say forget the metal and get yourself some SOPOR AETERNUS. Start with the album "Todeswunsch - Sous le soleil de Saturne" which features medieval instrumentation and some strangely beautiful vocal arrangements.